Saturday 28 May 2016

The Chicken Project count down......

Pushing on with getting the chickens and geese out of the courtyard now,
and into a home of their own.
It has taken a long time,
with lots of dithering about where we should put their lodgings.
After much discussion,
it was decided that some of the front garden would be sacrificed,
but I did not give in easily to this loss of space,
and did make quite a moan for a while.
Common sense prevailed though,
and so that section of garden has been fenced off in to an 'L' shape..
 
 
...at the bottom of the 'L' was a thick hedge covered in brambles...

 
..... and now that is cleared,

 
 
....and looking from the lane,
yesterday Lester put two fence posts in to block the gap where the hedge had been.
 
 
Now all we have to do is cement the poles in,
then put the wire up,
and then sort out the chicken house, and goose shelter,
and then we are rolling,
or rather, then we can have the courtyard back
so we can tidy it up.
 
The fencing of the rest of the garden was finished in January,
 

and that now gives a framework to that space.
 


No many flowers planted yet, 
but at least the space looks better than it did after the first stage of renovations,
back in 2008...
 
 
 
eight years on and we now have a garden....
 
]
 
Back indoors,
and the Lazy Susan hanging rack has now come in handy for drying herbs.
All the chamomile was dehydrated,
but there is also a lot of self seeded coriander plants.
It seemed a shame to plough them in to the ground,
even though they are still in flower and not yet set their seed,
so I pulled up a couple of plants,
and on to the Lazy Susan I put them.
 

The Rayburn is now having its summer rest,
but is coming in handy for putting jars of dried herbs for immediate use.
As for the rest of the kitchen,
I am gradually getting used to having a good sized kitchen,
and even though I haven't finished the curtains for the storage cupboards,
it still looks good.
I didn't want a modern looking kitchen,

and I think we have achieved that.
I wanted the kitchen to look as if it had always been part of the old house,
before the time of its partial collapse into a ruin.
All the old features were too damaged to save, such as the big old fireplace,
and the bread oven,
but at least we have kept the renovation simple.
 
Off to a BBQ tonight,
and tomorrow the band is playing for a picnic by the riverside in Riscle.
Shame that the weather is being tiresome,
with heavy air laden with moisture which sucks the breath out of the lungs,
and then rolling thunder storms to make sure that the moisture in the air stays put.
We are supposed to be walking down the High Street of Riscle tomorrow morning,
playing our instruments so the assembled villagers
can walk down to the river accompanied by music.
Trouble is rain and high winds are forecasted,
and to be quite honest with you,
I do not feel much enthusiasm for walking in the open air,
buffeted by winds, spat upon by rain drops,
trying to play an accordion,
meanwhile hoping I do not slip and fall over,
because the accordion tend to make me top heavy,
which means I can topple over easily.
 
I think, that on this occasion,
I shall be content to not be part of the band,
and join in with playing with them again once they are down by the river,
or indoors,
as I think a wet weather hall has been organised.
 
Hope you have a good weekend,
Bye for now,
Vx
 
 
 

8 comments:

Cro Magnon said...

Overnight storms and rain this morning here; I think we're in for about a week of it too.

I so agree with you about un-fitted kitchens. Unfortunately I'm told what we need, and have to go along with it. A big old dresser, a few cupboards, and a large scrubbed table, is my idea of a good kitchen. But I'm the one who does all the cooking, so who am I to complain!

Rhodesia said...

The weather forecast is not good for the next week so I hope you manage to keep dry and only play inside.
Sure the chickens and geese will be happy to have their own space and getting them out of the courtyard will be much better.
Take care and keep dry. Diane

Unknown said...

I've built a few poultry yards (or more particularly my husband has, to my design), starting with a chook Hilton where we mixed ducks and poultry - it didn't work because the ducks make things to wet and drakes don't always behave well. Most recently made one with an easy reach hatch for getting the eggs and a run that went along under fruit trees as a kind of permaculture approach. It worked really well but we got a disease problem and didn't have scope to move the run to another spot, leaving the diseased ground fallow. I hopes yours works well - it looks like it will be in a scenic spot. Will you have to go far to come out and get the eggs in winter?

Vera said...

CRO MAGNON, 'a dresser, a few cupboards, and a table', that's my ideal kitchen too!

RHODESIA, looks a bit damp outside this morning, so hopefully the band will be playing indoors. I think the geese and chickens would prefer to stay in the courtyard where they can keep an eye on us!

ANNE, the new chicken space is adjacent to the barns which join on to the house, so they will be near by. At least we will have more control about where they lay their eggs....at the moment the magpies, crows, and our dogs find the eggs before we do!
But we shall have temporary runs out in the pastures so that the chickens can clean the grass of insects and ticks, but probably not this year.

DUTA said...

The kitchen is your kingdoom and you're to decide what's best for you, based on the principle of two good-sized sections (work section and storage section). Judging by the photo, your kitchen looks nice and functional.

Rain and storms are not the ideal weather for picnics, so I hope you've indeed joined the band only once they were indoors, to avoid catching a cold or falling with the accordion. Anyway, in a rainy weather you should go out only with shoes/boots that have anti-slippery soles. 'Better safe than sorry' as they say.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

great work! and i love to see pix of your 'new' kitchen - i'd love a full tour when you can. and fun to see the rottie girls. yay!
:-)

Vera said...

DUTA, I did wear my boots today, and I did get rained on but the accordion was safely packed away in the car. It was a good day!

OHIOFARMGIRL, I will post some photos up of the kitchen once I get the curtains finished. It might take a while at the speed I am going!

Kerry said...

Love the kitchen. We were torn with what to do with ours, so we've gone for a mix of old and new. The kitchen cupboards are new but cream painted wood, so have tried to keep the country look. You garden looks fantastic, what a change since those early days.